Sk8man

A perch rather than sawbelly diet could in conjunction with high numbers of lake trout (competition for food sources) explain the smaller size of the lakers too as in Skaneateles where there aren't sawbellies few lakers reach large sizes with the exception of a very few giants that probably eat anything they want including other smaller lakers.

Over the years I've tried a number of things which I hoped would lead to survival of released smaller fish. I fish solo quite a bit so what I have ended up with is this : first I use only single hooks on all spoons (I know some folks will say yeah but they can also hook fish through the eye and it is true....sometimes) it allows me to use needle nose pliers at the side or back of the boat to grasp the stainless steel single hook with the pliers and with a quick twist of the wrist while the fish is still in or near the water I am able to release the hook without touching the fish or bringing into the boat. This I feel is essential because touching the gill area and keeping the fish out of water on the bottom of the boat or in the net is a prescription for their death. One of the things I have always wondered about the release of large fish and especially salmon is regardless of "revival" method do they actually survive? I know they may swim away after seemingly revived from the various methods but do they later die from the lactic acid build up in their system combined with the stress of fighting for their lives? I don't know the answer to this question. It may be a moot issue for mature kings but for Atlantics and other fish it could be important. My feeling is that if I intend to release a fish I am not going to handle it any more than possible and if so will never put my hands or fingers near the gill area or hold it vertically and unsupported but like nearly everyone else I like to take and share pics of decent fish too.

Just some thoughts on the way the braid is being used. I've found with the light braid on my ultralights (perch stuff) that the braid is VERY buoyant and floats on the water rather than slowly sinking like light mono. If a lot of it is out in back of the boat (most lines as well) there is a bowing of the line and adding the floating quality of braid it may not be where you think you are running depth-wise when running say as a top line. I only run it either weighted (as in snap weights) or with a dipsey and usually off boards. Unlike Lake O most of the fish on the Fingers you can "hand line" in if necessary so you can use much longer fluoro leaders on them where you don't have to worry about big salmon getting hold of your lure. With that said a 20 ft. leader should be enough most of the time. Braid shows up real well in the water so it may not be the best option for surface or shallow water fishing especially for fish like browns or landlocks. With them given the usual water clarity on the Fingers you'll want to be using light mono with a light fluoro leader and very small black ball bearing swivel when fishing up high.

Brian is right Jeff.....they will probably be roaming around out deeper and usually around bait. They are much more mobile than the lakers or browns and sometimes there are young kings mixed in with them or near them and they will also often locate in the top layer of water out deep within 60 ft or so of the surface. You may want to troll a bit faster than usual too but with the usual stuff and some lines back a ways.

Maybe try packing ice around the bottom of the stuck part to get it to contract while keeping the other out of the ice so it stays a bit warmer and see if it will slide out? Try using one of those compressed air canisters (e.g. for cleaning computer keyboards etc. ) and spray it until cold and then spray the top part with it and see if it contracts enough to slide the top out?

Did you fish with Seth Green himself? I used to fish it at night there with live bait way back (Bluff, Gibson Landing, Chidsey and a little off Marlena) but not quite that far back.....didn't have the money for a boat in the old days but did cast from shore for whatever I could get from mid 50's through early 60's at my uncle's cottage east side Penn Yan branch. Sometimes the rainbows would hammer the sawbellies at night and you'd wake up to the drag going out and your heart pounding

I have a wooden box with felt on the bottom and slotted for each weight (3 custom fish shape) made by bikinibottom and I use two back of the boat cup holders for my 2 "back ups ball type". When I am running from spot to spot I hang them from thehook on the downriggers and tighten the clutch/drag tight (Cannon adjustables).

Guff I really don't know the specific answer but I know over the years I have found everything from alewives, smelt, stonecats, crayfish,small sunfish, small bass, and little perch in their stomachs and I even found one big one years back with a 10 inch lake trout in it. In short, they are opportunists and will eat whatever is available wherever they happen to be depthwise or otherwise I've seen them from my boat in summer conditions (very warm water) cruising the shallows in the early AM and that is what may have happened too.....if they are hungry they will go way out of their preferred temp range.

Keith is right on the bullseye with the Walker Deeper Diver. It is solidly made and in my view dives down deeper than any other. I mainly use the 124 mm size (the largest one) and I have bumped bottom in 151 ft of water with it so it will get down there real well. The ratio is about 2:1 with it at normal trolling speeds. I too paint all mine black if they don't come that way and that goes for all my divers. In shallow water applications I use the 0 or 1 size LJ divers most of the time (less drag and don't need to go as deep). I know a lot of folks like the Chinook divers but I haven't used them because friends have had problems with the thin metal edge of them abnormally wearing their line but they cut through the water with less drag according to them and reel in easier.